At CHINAPLAS 2023, Gneuss will present its technological advancement in degassing and decontamination for demanding recycling applications with new series of OMNI Recycling Machines.

The company’s MRS Extrusion Technology has already proven itself as an alternative for the reprocessing of contaminated materials like polyester, polystyrene, polypropylene or polyethylene.

In combination with the highly efficient Gneuss Rotary Filtration Systems and optimized vacuum technology, customizable recycling lines tailor-made for a specific material can be engineered.

OMNImax

The OMNImax Recycling Machine processes industrial and post-consumer waste from all kinds of polymers and in all forms and shapes. It includes a 3C Rotary Feeder, an MRSjump extruder, a fully automatic melt filtration system RSFgenius and an online viscometer VIS.

The newly developed 3C Rotary Feeder makes it possible to use low bulk density materials without any external processing steps. A conveyor belt feeds shredded reclaim material into the hopper, where a fast-rotating disc with knives cuts, compacts and pre-conditions the material.

The knives add energy into the material and start the heating and degassing process before the material is automatically fed into the MRSjump extruder.

OMNImax Recycling Machine is equipped with MRSjump Extrusion System, Rotary Filtration System and 3C Rotary Feeder.

The MRS extruder is based on conventional single screw technology but is equipped with a multiple screw section for devolatilization. It enables very efficient and gentle decontamination of PET, whilst achieving the requirements for direct food contact standards.

The MRS extruder permits the processing of rPET directly into high quality end products such as packaging sheet, strapping tape or filaments without pre-drying by using a simple and rugged vacuum system. This is achieved by means of its unique and patented processing section. The Multi Rotation Section is a drum containing multiple satellite single screws, driven by a ring gear and pinion transmission.

The satellite screws rotate in the opposite direction to the main screw. This disproportionately increases the surface exchange of the polymer melt. A large opening for venting, exposing the full length of the satellite screws, is completely under vacuum. 

This provides unrestricted access to the polymer melt, the surface of which is constantly replaced at a very high rate by the action of the satellite screws in the multiple screw section.

The surface area – and the surface area exchange rate – available for devolatilization are far greater than in other extrusion systems. As the thermal and mechanical stress on the polymer melt is minimized, PET processed on the MRS extruder has very high optical and mechanical properties.

The new MRSjump has a longer, modified version of the Multi Rotation Section, which ensures both a longer residence time of the material and more surface area exchange under vacuum.

The longer Multi Rotation Section, coupled with a powerful vacuum system operating at 1 mbar, can be used to boost the viscosity of rPET and to hold it at a stable level in spite of variations in the input material. Therefore, there is no need for any liquid phase (LSP) or solid state polymerization (SSP).

With the stabilization and/or increase of the intrinsic viscosity in the extrusion process, the MRSjump is especially well suited to recycling e.g. PET film waste or fiber reclaim – applications for which direct recycling with one single extrusion step was previously impossible due to low intrinsic viscosity or variable input viscosities.

OMNIboost

The OMNIboost Recycling Machine with an polyreactor JUMP processes PET waste, whether form from industry or postconsumer, directly into high-quality products. The integrated JUMP can lift the IV value of a PET melt up to 0.95 dl/g.

OMNIboost Recycling Machine features JUMP polyreactor, MRS Extrusion System, Rotary Filtration Systems and 3C Rotary Feeder.

In the JUMP the polymer passes over several slow turning elements which create a polymer film, the surface of which is constantly renewed. The reactor vessel is kept under vacuum, through which volatile substances are reliably removed.

By regulating the residence time in the reactor, the vacuum, the fill level and the speed of rotation of the agitating devices, the polycondensation reaction can be altered to achieve the required product properties.

The JUMP is a robust and reliable LSP and a compact, quick and efficient alternative to conventional SSP. It enables direct reintroduction of the polymer into the production process without the need to remelt the PET.

Rotary Filtration Systems

The continuous Rotary Filtration Systems are characterized by a filter disk on which the screen cavities are located in a ring pattern. Screens can be changed on the part of the filter disk that is not active in the melt channel, while the production process continues to run without any interruptions or disturbances.

Gneuss’ patented Rotary Filtration System RSFgenius.

The company’s top model RSFgenius operates with an integrated back-flushing system offering self-cleaning for very demanding applications and highest quality requirements. Screens can be automatically re-used up to 400 times and filtration finenesses below 10 microns/1200 mesh are available.

Retrofitting a fully-automatic RSFgenius to an existing extrusion line, whether in a pelletizing, sheet, fiber or pipe application, permits the use of more contaminated (and often cheaper) material and/or the use of finer screens. Every retrofit is tailor-made and usually without the need to move any existing equipment.